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The Key to both proper living & understanding of the bible.
by Mark Heatherly "If therefore your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light." Today we live in a world of darkness and walk through the valley of the shadow of death. We are aware of these kind of words because in America we are very well educated in the teachings of the bible. Never before in the history of mankind has a generation been so well "acquainted" with God's word & yet somehow the masses are even worse off then perhaps ever before. How truly blind & ignorant we are! Jesus told the religious people, "if you were blind you would not be guilty of sin but since you say "we can see" , your sin remains". This is not a simple or superficial thing but rather very fundamental penetrating through the exterior shell of our being (body & soul) to the core of our heart. What Jesus was saying is that you people rely upon the inherent powers or abilities of your natural man with it's faculties of the soul & body. This is the natural life & way of living that we have through Adam. By these we can relate to the world around us (albeit in a dysfunctional sort of way). However, these faculties not only are incapable of relating to God & the things of God but are indeed a very great hindrance. So great in fact, the scripture refers to the hindrance as a great mountain & fortresses that must be removed before we can "see". Today's Christianity has been greatly duped by the enemy by a very effective strategy. It is not a new one, rather it is the same one used upon Adam & Jesus. It failed with Jesus, Praise the Lord, but it still works today even on Christians who have the Holy Spirit ! What is this strategy ? With Adam, ( and so with Christians today) Satan merely induced him to choose not to walk according the WAY of God in his spirit. This was a way in which a man could walk with God! It was a way that God offered to man in which man could participate in & with the divinity of God from within the organ of his spirit. This however implied an absolute union & even somewhat of an interdependence with God. Just as there were only two ways then, there still remains today only two ways. One is the way of God in our spirit to be lived out with 100% commitment, purity or singleness (as implied in the opening scripture). There can be no less, otherwise one would experience mixture or pollution & God cannot & will not abide in that condition. God does not tolerate this kind of condition & has therefore said "because you are lukewarm , I will spew you out of my mouth". This is a very serious matter before God. There is a very great distinction between God & Satan & for God to manifest the defeat of His adversary & restore all things, He requires that man reject Satan & his way in a complete & overcoming way. What is the way of Satan? To put it in simple terms it is a systematic environment which he himself has implemented & orchestrated so as to fully engage & occupy man to operate by the faculties & abilities of his soul & body to the exclusion of God in his spirit. These include but are not limited to commerce, education, culture, sports, entertainment & other pleasure seeking endeavors. In fact, any natural thing can be used by Satan to capture & enslave a man within the confines of his soul, even so-called service to God. Ever since Adam chose the tree of the knowledge of right & wrong man has been alienated & estranged from God, left to walk in the way of Satan. The way of Satan is one of pride & selfishness & is strictly relegated to the confines of the now sinful flesh in the body of man which rules over his soul life. In this state, man walks according to the weak & unstable dictates of the flesh. The flesh being of the same constitution as Satan naturally follows after the inclinations of Satan. This is why Jesus told the religious people, "you always do the works of your father the devil". Satan draws men into the realm & activity of their soul (which is effected by the flesh) while God draws men into their spirit wherein He resides. We must be very careful to not be deceived here because the devices of Satan are quite varied. Perhaps we do not walk according to the degraded state of being a criminal but neither did the Pharisees. They sought God in a very determined & disciplined way & yet they still could not see nor hear the God who walked among them. Why is this? Because they were still of the way of Satan. "There is a way which seems right to a man but it's end is the way of death." This way is the very same way that Satan offered to Adam. It is the way of living out from your soul life. It is a seeing & knowing that is out from the limited powers of the soul in the mind, will & emotions. Though the religious people sought God, yet they could not know Him because the way of life they employed was that of the power of knowing in the soul. The soul has a power of "knowing" that is apart from God. This is the way that Satan wants man to live & operate by. It is an ability to know & to chose & to decide on matters through the complex inter workings of the soul. It is where one takes in information through the powers of the body (the senses of smell, sight, touch, taste & hearing) & assimilates it all through the complex workings of the soul (the combined effort of the mind, will & emotions). This is a way that we are born with. It is a way that is developed & refined as we mature in the soul-life. Every day we make hundreds of choices & decisions utilizing this very same way of life. In our society, we all employ this way to varying degrees of success. Keeping in mind that there are outside sources such as God & the enemy that effects the outcome & circumstances of our lives but we never-the-less can perceive that some people are more & better developed than others according to the implementation of the powers of the soul life. In other words, some people are more wise & successful than others in utilizing these natural powers & capabilities. At their very best however, these powers are absolutely useless in seeking & knowing God. These are the powers & the very way employed by the religious people in Jesus' day . We know of a certainty through the bible that they never knew God though they were very well developed in the functions of their souls. They could not know God because they were not of God. They were not of God because they were not of the way of God. They simply could not be of the way of God because they chose to live instead by the inherited way of Satan through the soul life & way of Adam. This is to live in the way of relying upon & utilizing the powers of the soul. Example ; when seeking God we turn to the only means we have ever known or experienced which is our soul. We will try to know Him through a teaching in our mind, or a method by our will or else through the emotions in a song or inspiring message. The employment of these is the operation & reliance upon the soul. These will never work. We must instead turn to God. "Be still, oh my soul & see the salvation of God". We must walk in a new way. We must first lose our (soul) life. We must employ new senses. This is a walk of faith & trust relying 100% upon the Lord. It is in His light alone that we see light ! Jesus said it is " because you say, we see", meaning we have a way of seeing already, that you cannot see. If in your heart you say you can see, then you are blind. If however , you say & confess that you cannot see, then you may see. This is a fundamental rejection of Satan & his way of living through the powers & confines of the soul. Make no mistake about it, the soul does indeed have powers & capabilities. Man has been trying desperately to refine & strengthen those powers since the day of Adam. Today this development is sought out through psychology, science, technology & better so-called government reform. We can plainly see the futile & often times, devastating results of these. We even see these devices & methods being applied today for the Christian life. This is not only futile it is opposed to God for Life begets Life & that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. To utilize the soul-life for Christian development then is actually blasphemous. We must realize that there is a great distinction between Satan & God & that this distinction is played out & experienced within the depths of our own person in the organs of our body, soul & spirit. Since most Christians do not live by the lusts & dictates of the body itself I am mainly focusing on the distinction of soul & spirit. It is not that we do not use our soul any longer lest we become susceptible to evil spirits, but rather we subjugate our soul to the Lord in our spirit. "He who wishes to come after Me must deny himself." We use the term "Lord" very loosely today, but to use it implies that we have submitted to one who is higher than us & is our master. We then become the slave of the master, meaning everything we do is to be subjugated to the master. We then can do nothing except the master first approves it. In the case of a Christian, we are to be absolutely given up & consecrated unto the Lord 100%. If not, then we still walk after the way of Satan in our soul & are in fact in opposition to the Lord. In this state, He certainly cannot be called Lord, because He is not allowed to be so. "Many will say in that day, Lord, Lord and He will say, get away from Me. I never knew you." If He is not Lord, we cannot walk in the spirit because He is the Lord/Spirit with our spirit. There can only be one Lord or else we will be unstable in all our ways being in constant friction & divisions. This was not only the way of Christ, it is now the way of Life for the Christian. To live any other way & not to be under the Lordship of the Father is to be a dysfunctional Christian. In this state, we cannot utilize the eyes of the spirit in order to see. As a Christian, we now have the eyes but may not have the operation or proper function of the eyes because we are fundamentally incorrect before the Lord. This again has to do with the scripture "If therefore your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light." The light here refers to the eternal life which is Christ in your spirit whereas the singleness has to do with your life or way (or form or method) of living. Jesus was very clear when He said you must lose it in order to keep it (or possess it in fullness). This singleness therefore has everything to do with consecration. The light ,or the measure of the fullness of Christ will be experienced in direct proportion to the degree of your consecration. This scripture describes the life as being light which must pass through a lens. The more transparent the lens the more the light. The things which obstruct the light are the world, the old man, the self, the flesh & the sin nature which are contained in soulish living. These things are all included in the systematic way of Satan. There is a sense in which this singleness involves the proper calibration of your person. Since we are a tripartite being, the three parts must work in the proper order & manner. In the natural, for example if a person cannot hear or see, we say that this person is handicapped or impaired. This means they cannot fully function in a normal or proper way. In a similar way, man was designed to walk with God in His spirit so that his soul & body were then the proper means of expression. Everything about the normal Christian then, was/is meant to originate from the inside out ; spirit-soul-body. Expression then originates from the spirit, then goes through the soul & outward through the functions of the body via words or movement. The three parts work together synergistically & harmoniously yet the Lord in our spirit is the governing & regulating authority. He does so according to His good & perfect will. This is a most difficult thing for the Christian to overcome himself. It seems very illogical. It goes against human nature. It is a dichotomy yet it is the very way & path to glory. There simply is no other way & what's more it has to be done in our life-time or else we shall suffer a great loss. Today's Christian unfortunately does not get this to his own demise. Instead of denying self & taking up our cross we think if we could just study harder, learn more doctrines & methods, pray more, serve more, give more, & try , try, try some more we will finally enter God's rest. It's a never ending cycle of failures & defeats followed by repentance, & stronger resolve. This is nothing but the operations of man in the limited powers of the soul. The soul can give every appearance of doing the right thing but without an absolute consecration he cannot become single so that the resurrection power of the Lord can properly & effectively calibrate or shine in our being so as to be a mature Christian full of Life. Unfortunately, this is not ALL there is to being able to walk in the spirit but it is in fact the fundamental starting point without which all else will fail. Get this point right & you are then able to build upon the solid foundation of Jesus Christ and Him crucified! I make my writings available to all, but I would very much like to hear from those who have questions or comments or are built up & enriched & also from those who wish to use my writings for reprint. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |